A Description of the Educational System of Kwazulu with Emphasis on Pupil Repetition.

Mdluli, S. B.

This research study describes the educational system, practices, and problems in Kwazulu, South Africa. Emphasis is given to the causes of pupil repetition. The study is one of a series intended to provide guidelines for the future planning of the educational systems of developing countries. To gather data, questionnaires were sent to principals of all elementary and secondary schools in the country. Interviews with the principals were also conducted. The main objective in the four year lower primary phase of education in Kwazulu is to enable pupils to acquire functional literacy. There is a desire to introduce compulsory education. However, before this is done, many problems must be solved. For example, the pupil teacher ratio of 16:1 in the lower primary phases is considered too high for effective teaching and must be reduced; classroom accommodation and furniture are far from adequate; and the qualifications of lower primary teachers are relatively low. The higher primary phase which succeeds the lower primary stresses practical subjects. At the next level, secondary education, provision is made for three types of education: academic, technical, and commercial. A disturbing feature in Kwazulu secondary schools is the employment of a large number of underqualified teachers. The phenomena of dropouts and pupil repetition characterize most educational systems of developing countries. Principals in Kwazulu regard internal causes as the major reason for repetition. This study found that teachers with higher academic qualifications had no significant advantage concerning pupil repetition. This leads them to believe that the type of professional teacher training received has more bearing on repetition than academic training. (Author/RM)